We spent our last night as a family enjoying a delicious homemade meal and having a family sleepover after cleaning up from Jaylee's birthday party. I wanted to spoil James with the best meal I could possibly make. He loves wings and shrimp, so that is just what I chose to make for him. I didn't have a recipe for wings, so I decided to wing it! (haha! get it? "winged" it... lmbo) While the chicken was baking I fried up some jumpo shrimp, his absolute fav. A side of cheesy rice to go with and voila, a perfect meal!
After we enjoyed our dinner, James bathed the girls while I cleaned up and fed the baby. Once the girls were washed and dressed, we put on a movie on for the kiddos so James could finish packing his duffel and I could finish making their daddy-dolls.
I had planned on finishing their daddy-dolls before dinner. That way, we could sit down as a family and snuggle while explaining to the girls that Daddy would be leaving for a little bit, but that didn't happen like planned. Since I kept making mistakes, the dolls took me a little longer to make than I had expected. By the time I was finished, both girls were out cold. They hadn't even finished their movie. Since they were asleep, I decided I would run up stairs and help James pack. I left the baby asleep on the couch so I could spend some time with my husband before the night was over. Of course, as soon as I got up to our room, the baby woke up. James went down stairs to comfort her and Jaylee who had woken from Eira's cries. While James was out of the room, I slipped some love notes buried in all of this clothing: I folded some into his garments, tucked some into his socks, placed a few in his ABU pockets, and a the last couple into his scriptures.
When I was finished, I walked back downstairs to find everyone sleeping in the livingroom. I knew James was tired since we had stayed up until early in the morning the night before. I decided to pick up the house a bit before going to bed. That way, it wasn't such a disaster in the morning and all potential stress could hopefully be eliminated. Before I could finish, the baby woke up again, this time also waking James. He told me it was time for me to go to bed, we had a busy day tomorrow, and he didn't want me exhausted. He handed me the baby and said with a tired smile, "let me make you a bed." It is these acts of selflessness that make me fall more and more in love with him everyday. Despite how tired he was and knowing how long he would be traveling in the morning completely exhausted, he still got up and began to make me a bed on the couch. He told me to sit down and he'd cover me with a blanket. I then began to cry realizing that this was without a doubt, my last night with him for a while. Reality sank in. I sat up and began to not just cry, but sob hysterically. James sat down next to me and embraced me in his arms as tight as he could, one hand around me and the other on my face as the baby nursed vigorously on my chest. I could hear him choke back some tears as he tried to clear his throat. He stroked my hair out of the stream of tears rushing down my face. We then began a conversation that I will never forget. It is too personal to write out for the world (friends really) to read, but I will say this, I am deeply in love with this man and his spiritual self. He truly is amazing.
Alright, enough with the sappy stuff...
After a good, hard cry we fell asleep. When I awoke just a few hours later, my head throbbed from the pressure of emotion that had built up. Before starting our day, I said a little prayer and asked the Lord to please bless this day to go by as slow as possible. I wanted every minute of this morning to be remembered happy, calm, and every bit peaceful. We then quickly got ready. Surprisingly, we were out the door two hours later, which in our household, is a complete miracle. James wanted to go out for a special lunch so I wouldn't have to spend our last few hours together cooking and cleaning up after three messy girls. Of course, he chose a burger and wing joint. I am not a fan of their wings, but I thought I could suck it up and enjoy a nice lunch with my family for this one time at this restaurant.
After we ate, we decided it was probably time to talk to the girls, especially Jaylee. She is almost four and I had been putting it off long enough- maybe even too long. Right outside of the restaurant was a few patches of trees, some green soft grass, and a beautiful flower garden. We stopped there and sat as a family. James and I began to explain to Jaylee what was going to take place later today. She is absolutely fascinated by airplanes and we knew that if we explained it with the thought of Daddy flying in an airplane she would hopefully be ecstatic. James began with asking her if she knew where he was going. She just looked at him and clicked her tongue. I'm not too sure why she was doing this, but probably just to be silly. He then explained that he was going to go fly to a new place for work on his 'special airplane' and that he would be back in a little bit. "I'll be home after Christmas, and in the mean time, you need to be good for Mommy.Okay? You also will get to go see your Grandmas and Grandpas, won't that be fun? I'll be home soon." Jay just nodded with a smile on her face as I thought to myself, Well, that was easier than I thought!
Since we hadn't given the girls their dolls yet, we thought now was the perfect time. As I pulled them out of the diaper bag the girls went crazy. They were so excited. We explained that they could now carry Daddy anywhere they go thanks to this cute little doll. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to attach a nipple for the baby. Other than that, they were the perfect gift! ;)
After our wonderful family time it was time to take James to the flight line. I don't think I could have driven any slower than I did that day. I joked around saying I was just going to kidnap him and head right out the gate. That way, he wouldn't have to leave us. We laughed and I drove even slower.
When we arrived at the flight line everyone hoped out as quickly as possible, all awed at the planes. I, on the other hand, slowly unbuckled my seat belt, hesitated to open the door, and slid like a snail out of my seat. This was it.
We walked onto the flight line and were greeted by a tall dark man. He quickly started throwing papers at James, talking to him, and explaining that he had only a few minutes to finish everything before leaving. This was our good-bye. A quick hug from Jay around his leg and a peck on the lips from me and he was gone, leaving the girls and I stranded on the flight line. I tried as hard as I could to hold in my tears until I could get to the car.
And then, I lost it....
"It's okay, it's okay. I love you too." I cried into his neck as I hugged him for the last time. I didn't let go. I couldn't let go. My arms tightened with every breath. As he pulled away I held onto his hand. His fingers slowly slipped away as he wiped the tears from his cheek. I watched him walk off onto the flight line as he turned for his final wave goodbye.
And now, this is it. The count down begins...
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